Extensive technical cooperation. During the three-year period, China sent over 2,000 experts to more than 50 countries to conduct technical cooperation, transfer applicable technique, and help improve these countries' technical management capacity in agriculture, handcrafts, radio and television, clean energy, and culture and sports. China also dispatched senior planning and consulting experts to other developing countries to help with the planning of land exploitation, clean energy utilization, river regulation, and economic cooperation. In a technical cooperation program, Chinese experts taught 500 Liberians to weave bamboo and rattan into marketable products. This program has not only created jobs, brought the locals more income and lifted them out of poverty, but also boosted the bamboo and rattan industry in the country.

The active role of volunteers. China continued to send volunteers to other developing countries to provide services in language teaching, physical education, computer training, traditional Chinese medicine treatment, agricultural technology, art training, industrial technology, social development and international relief for schools, hospitals, government agencies, farms, and research institutes. A Chinese volunteer to Liberia successfully rescued a newborn with gastroschisis, and was awarded the African Star medal. Volunteers to Ethiopia improved the planting method for melons, and local fruit farmers harvested much more than usual that year; the volunteers also taught the locals to build biogas pits so that they could use clean energy more efficiently.

3. Promoting Trade Development

As an active response to the WTO's Aid for Trade initiative, China strengthened its assistance in infrastructure construction and production capacity building for other developing countries. China also stepped up zero tariff treatment to these countries, supported their involvement in the multilateral trading system, and provided training for their economic and trade professionals so as to promote the trade development of these countries.

Improving trade-related infrastructure. During the three-year period, China assisted the construction of 90 large and medium-sized, trade-related infrastructure projects, effectively improving transportation for foreign trade in the recipient countries and reinforcing their connectivity with other areas. China also provided commodity inspection equipment, transport vehicles and other trade-related supplies and equipment to other developing countries. For example, it provided container inspection equipment to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Egypt, Chad, Cape Verde, Zambia and Serbia, which has helped these countries improve their commodity inspection capacity and customs clearance ability, as well as effectively combat against smuggling.

Improving trade-related production capacity. China assisted the construction of a number of trade-related production programs, which have helped improve to a certain degree the production capacity of the recipient countries, so that they can better meet the needs of the market and improve the import-export mix. In December 2011, during the eighth ministerial conference of the WTO, China reached agreement with Benin, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso -- the Cotton-4 countries -- on a cooperation program in which China provides cotton seeds, farm machinery and fertilizers, shares planting technologies, provides training, and supports local companies for technological upgrading and the expansion of industrial chain, so as to promote the development of the four countries' cotton industries and foreign trade.

Promoting export to China. In an effort to effectively boost export to China from other developing countries, in 2005 China decided to offer zero tariff treatment on taxable items in 190 categories to 25 least developed countries in Africa, and further expanded the scope of the treatment in the following years. In November 2011, then Chinese President Hu Jintao announced that China would offer zero tariff treatment to 97 percent of the taxable items from the least developed countries that had established diplomatic relations with China. By the end of 2012, commodities in nearly 5,000 taxable categories exported to China from the least developed countries were enjoying zero tariff treatment. Since 2008, China has been the largest export market of the least developed countries for five consecutive years, buying 23 percent of these countries' exported commodities.

Supporting the least developed countries in joining the multilateral trading system. China is an active participator of the WTO's Aid for Trade initiative. From 2008 to 2010, China made annual donation of 200,000 US dollars to the program, and has increased the sum to 400,000 US dollars since 2011. The donations are used to set up the China Program for Assisting the Least Developed Countries' Accession to the WTO, hold related seminars on accession to the WTO for these countries, finance their personnel to attend important WTO meetings and do internship at the organization's Secretariat. From 2010 to 2012, China held 18 seminars on promoting trade facilitation and WTO accession, sharing its experience with over 400 government officials from other developing countries.

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